Ethan and Jacob: Wish You Were Here
by SalientLane
Chapter 1
The clatter of the lunchroom at Collège François-de-Laval was like a hive buzzing—forks and knives against plates, chattering voices, and the occasional burst of laughter. I wedged myself between two tables, balancing a stack of textbooks, my crammed laptop bag dangling off one shoulder, and notebooks under my arm like a makeshift suit of armor. Ethan was right behind me, dodging the same sea of backpacks and chairs.
"Hey, Jacob," Alice called out from her spot by the window, waving me over with a curious tilt of her head. Her voice cut through the drone of lunchtime chaos.
"Hey," I said, sidling up to her table. The mountain of school stuff in my arms felt suddenly heavier. "What's up?"
"Can I ask you something weird?" she said, her eyes flicking to Ethan who had found a spot across the room and was giving us a thumbs-up. "Earlier today, I saw Ethan reach into your pocket for your keys. It's just—you know, boys don't usually do that."
I chuckled, shifting the weight of my books. "Yeah, I guess they don't."
Alice leaned in. "So... are you guys, like, a couple or something?"
There it was—the question, hanging in the air like a frisbee waiting to be caught. I could almost hear Ethan's laugh somewhere behind me—a dare to dive in.
"Would it matter to you if we were?" I asked, my voice steady. I set the pile down on an empty chair with a thud. "Ethan's been my best friend forever. Our families are close, you know? We're brothers."
Alice nodded, waiting for more.
"Maybe we are more, why not?" I shrugged, feeling the truth of the words as I said them. "All I know is, I love him. He's always got my back."
Her gaze didn't waver, and neither did mine. There was no flinching, no looking away—just the honesty of two friends standing in the clutter of a school cafeteria.
"Okay," she said simply, giving a small smile. "Cool."
I picked up my stack again, feeling lighter somehow. As I turned away, I caught Ethan's eye from across the room. He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners in our silent conversation. Nothing changed, yet everything did. We were just us—Ethan and Jacob, like we had always been.
I nudged the cafeteria door with my shoulder, balancing a precarious tower of books against my chest. Ethan was right behind me, his laughter bouncing off the walls, a sound that could make even Monday feel like a Friday.
"Hey, Alice said the cutest thing today," I started, glancing over at him. The hallway was empty, the echo of our steps the only answer for a moment.
Ethan raised an eyebrow, "Yeah? What's up?"
"She asked if we were... you know, a couple." I shrugged, feeling the weight of the textbooks shift in my arms.
For a second, he just looked at me, his face unreadable. Then, the corner of his mouth quirked up, and he let out a short chuckle. "Did she now?"
"Yep." I kicked at a loose tile on the floor, sending it skittering down the hall. "She saw you fishing for my keys earlier."
"Ah, the infamous pocket incident." He made it sound like we'd survived a shark attack rather than shared a moment of teenage clumsiness.
"Exactly," I said, grinning back at him. "She thought it was kinda cute, actually."
Ethan's face lit up with amusement, and he leaned against a row of lockers, his eyes crinkling at the corners. The sweet contours of my best friend's face were flushed pink. (Yeah, sue me. I loved him.)
"Cute, huh?"
"Yep, cute. Like puppies or matching sweaters."
"Matching sweaters?" He snorted, shaking his head. "Man, we are setting new relationship goals without even trying."
"Tell me about it."
We reached our usual spot by the window, where the sunlight fought its way through smudges and old stickers. I dumped my books onto the sill with a sigh of relief, watching the dust motes dance in the beams of light.
"Seriously though," Ethan said, quieter now, the humor in his eyes replaced by something softer. "Does it bother you? The question, I mean."
"Bother me?" I echoed, leaning back against the cool glass. "Nah. We're us, right? Always have been."
"Always will be," he confirmed, bumping his fist lightly against mine.
"Plus," I added, "if being 'us' means getting all your jokes and having someone to fish out my keys when my hands are full, I wouldn't change a thing." Ethan beamed and pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him right back and meant it.
That was all the answer I needed. We didn't need labels or definitions, not yet; we just needed each other. And as we turned to leave the sunlit corridor behind, I knew no question could ever shake the foundation we'd built together. We had plenty of time to figure things out. Let life be uncomplicated for a little while longer.
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